Looking for Inspiration - Found It!

I took a day off from writing yesterday because everything that came out on the keyboard was just whining. Today may be little to no different. I am coming down with something and it affects my thought process. Anyway, enough discussion about this. Let's figure out what to talk about today.

 How about a post from Pinterest that tweaked my interest enough to follow up on it...

 https://thesongswesing.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/silly-songs-kids-love-to-sing-lyrics/

 Have you seen these posts? They are bright and colorful and attract my eye every time I see them on my Pinterest feed. I admit, I click on these posts more than the more neutral posts (or the ones that I've seen a million times - I am no longer interested in the "bible" of music therapy songs - been there). So, I tend to go for these posts.

This one has a list of songs, coordinated with links to musical examples and sheet music of children's songs. It leads me to another link: https://makingmusicfun.net/htm/mmf-music-library-silly-songs-index.htm

More kids' songs! I love learning new songs, especially those that tickle my fancy. There's one right now that is called "The Duchess at Tea." It combines the thought of body sounds with sophisticated rhyming. I think my students will enjoy it.

 Alas, there is only a link to the words, so I start my sleuthing process to see if there are other links to this song. First step? YouTube (of course!!). Score! There are a couple of versions of this song on YouTube. Next step? Looking for the sheet music. No such luck, so off to the Finale to transcribe the melody for use later. (Thank goodness I paid attention during music theory class!) After the melody is transcribed, it is time to start thinking about therapeutic purpose and intent for using the song with my specific clients.

 All of this comes from a simple Pinterest post.

 Now I have a song about body sounds (always popular with my clients) that has a bit of a refined air about it. I can figure out how to turn it into a therapeutic music experience (TME) with a bit of thought and effort. I think my students will enjoy it!

Over the years, my interns have asked me how I come up with ideas for TMEs. This is how I come up with ideas. I look around me and then think about how I can use what I see with my clients. The first thing is to view the world through a therapist's eyes. 

I've not been seeing things that way lately - it's nice to be coming back to that viewpoint.

How do you come up with your TME ideas?

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